Lamp construction



Dec. 29 1925.

i C.. E. GODLEY LAMP coNsTRucTIoN 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 b I 4 M w/l/ IIIII/Filed March 25 Dec. 29, Y192. 1,567,365

c. E. GODLEY LAMP CONSTRUCTION Filed March 25 1925 2 sheets-sheet 2Patented Dec. Z9, 1925.

PATENT OFFICE.

CHARLES E. GOIDLEY, 0F DETROIT, MICHIGAN. ASSIGNOR TO EDMUNDS & JONESCOR- PORATON, Ol DETQIT? MIGHIGI A GORFORVATION OF NEW YORK.

LAMP CONSTRUCTION.

Application filed March 25, 1925.

To aZZ whom t may concern.'

Be it known that I, CHARLES E. Gonnnr, a citizen of the United States,residing at Dertoit, in the county of Wayne and State of Michigan, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in a Lamp Construction; andI do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exactdescription of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in theart to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates to lamps of the general class in which the body ofthe lamp casing has a lens-carrying front or cover` detachably mountedon it. Generally speaking, my invention aims to provide combined meansfor latching the lens-carrying front to the casing of such al lamp in amanner affording a yielding and self-adjusting connect-ion between thebody of the casing and the said front, for also holding the reflector ofthe lamp firmly in position when this cover or lamp front is detached,and for permitting a removal of the reflector without detaching any ofthe latching parts.

In my copending application No. 691,978, filed Feb. 11, 1924, I haveshown a construction for this purpose in which the means for effectingthe latching and for holding the reflector in its normal position whenthe cover or lens front is det-ached include a spring formed of flatmaterial, which spring must be detached from a hookshaped member topermit the attaching and detaching of the reflector. Since thearrangement there disclosed requires a spring of a Width considerablyexceeding that of the hook to which it is attached, it also requires acorresponding Widening of the lamp body beyond that demanded by thediameter of the reflector. Furthermore, the construction there disclosedrequires a partial rotating of the reflector before the latter can bedetached. Since this involves an added manipulation to whichinexperienced buyers of such lamps are not accustomed, various parts ofthese lamps (and particularly the reflectors) have sometimes beendamaged by the attempts of uniformed users to detach the reflectorwithout giving it the needed preliminary partial rotation. Furthermore,I have found in difficult in practice to secure a uniformity in I.liebending of the ysprings required in my Serial ITo. 18,107.

said previous construction, thereby increasing the manufacturing costs.

My present invention aims to overcome all of the above mentionedobjections. For this purpose, I provide a construction employing aspring formed of a wire and hence reduc ing both the cost, thedifficulty in securing uniformity of the bending and the needed width ofthe lamp body, as also reducing the outside diameter of the lens ringcorrespondingly. I also provide interlocking formations on the reflectorand the lamp body which will not require any rotational movement of thereflector either in the detaching of the same from the casing or inattaching the same to the casing, thereby avoiding the difficultiesheretofore encountered by inexperienced users and also avoiding suchimproper manipulations by users as might easily damage the relativelythin reflectors. I also arrange the latehing springs so that they may besprung clear of the reflector, thereby permitting the reflector to bedetached or replaced without detaching the springs.

Furthermore, I provide a construction in which both the latchingformations on the lens ring and the lens-holding formations are formedon the same integral part of the lens ring, thereby simplifying andcheapcning the construction and also avoiding a pos sible loosening ofseparately attached latching members in case the manufacture is notcarefully watched. Still further and also more detailed objects of myinvention will appear from the following specification and from theaccompanying drawings, in which- Fig. l is a central, longitudinal andvertical section through an automobile headlight embodying my invention.

Fig. 2 is a front view of the same, with the cover or front memberdetached.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged and fragmentary section taken along the radialline 3-3 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 4f is a correspondingly enlarged vertical section taken along theline t-l of Fig. 2, with the nearer side Wall of the lamp body or casingcut away.

Fig. 5 is an enlarged perspective view of a portion of the reflectorshowing a tongue which .engages erresponding recess tha flange on thelamp body to prevent rotation of the reflector.

Fig. 6 is afperspectiye View of one of the springs as it appears whendetached.

Fig. 7 is an enlarged front view of a radial outer portion of the lampbody, sho-Wing one of the latch-ing springs and the spring supportcarrying the san'ie, with dotted lines showing hoW this spring may besprung fout beyond the outer edge of the lamp body to permit thereflector to be attached or detached Without bodily removing the spring.

Fig. 8 is a rear view of the cover member which comprises the lens ringand the lens carried by ythe latter. y

Fig. 9 is a View similar to Fig. 4 but with the cover or lens-front ofthe lamp removed from the casing, showing lio-W ythe latching springthen directly engages the flange of the reflector.

'lnthe embodiment of the drawings, Fig. 1 shows a 'section through anautomobile lamp in which the Abody of the casing has a side Wall l`provided at its rivard or month end with anannular flange 2 againstwhich the outwardly directed flange 3 at the month endoffthe-reector lnornnrlly bears. The portion of the reflector between this flange Sandthe reflector portion projects yforwardly and is -provided with aforwardly open trrlhe lamp' body also .has secured `Ato it anuniber fofspringelatclfisupports, which are here shown as three in lnumber vand aseach co-mpriising a baise portien '7 seenredflativise 'to the inner faeeof the side Wall'rl ofthe lamp body, a stem 8 extending forwardlythrough a correspondingly formed Ynot inner ledigeofthe flange 2,' a g ldisposed in front of the 'fiange2, and -a hook l0 bent from the ffoiirrded-fge of the tongue 9 curyed rearwardly so as to afford a rearwardly`directed opening. The tongue 9 also "has a perforat n l1 for receivingfthe t'ail end l2 of a sprig l which is desir ably formed of a resilientwire and Vwhich has ad'jaeci'it to its other -end a vbi-ght lfl convenedtowards l:the rear of the lamp or towards the flange 2. T-lii-issprirlrg has anintermediate portion extending into the said' hookVformation, and this 'lioo'li' formation is so disposed-as tocooperatewith thesoeketing of the tail 12 ofthe'spring in* perforationl1 'for '-hdlding the spring in a position in which -its' Iresiliency@constantly `urges the 'bight lll 1rerrwardl'yv or toward. the flange 2ofthe lampbotly.

This body flange 2 is provided at its-inner vedge Vwith a numberofrecesses 15 which are here shown. fas 'having the aforesaid notches 29forming' :ra-di" y outward continuations of them. Each ofthe recesses l5corresponds substantially in Width to a reaiavairdly directed tonguev 16on the reector, the .longues 1G bei-ng (lesiva-bly Groove 5 -in whichapaci-ting rin-go i." seat-ed.V

formed from intial portions of the flange 3 as shown in Fig. 5, so thateach tongue 1G normally projects rearwardly beyond the body flange 2after the manner shown in Fig. 3 and has its ends adapted to engage theends of the correspond-ing lrecess-Minto prevent the reflector fromrota-ting with respect to the lamp body. Vith the parts thus arranged,the reflector can be inserted or removed freely when the sorings l5 aredetached, and the `subsequent attacl'iingl of the springs will cansetheir bights 14 to engage the forward face of the flange 3 of the'reflector to hold the latter in its normal position even before thelens-front or cover of the lamp is att-ached.

rfihe lensring or lensearrying part of the lensfront is here shown ascomposed of two substantie.llyv annular members both formed of sheetmetal. The outer of these has a side Wall 17 which is recnrved at itsrear end to afford a short forwardly directed annular hook formation18honsi-ng the rear end of a. cylindrical flange 19 `on the second orinner member of v.the lens-front. The outer or first named annularmember also has an annular front portion 2O carrying van .inner andrearwardly directed flange. 2l Which engages the frontof the pane orlens The inner men'iber khas an lannular flange or shelf portion23extending radially inward from its said cylindrical rear portion l)and connecting the latter to a for` nf'ardly directed portion '2d whichei'igages the said frontal portion 20 of the lens ring. Thus arranged,thev hooi;v formation 'lf2 at tl'ie rear end of 'the 'lens ring receivesany thrust tending to `more the v inner part of the latter rearwardly.

rlhe `esi-millar shelf of the lens ring is provided with apertureseorresponding in number to the springs and their si'ipports. Eachaperture is Asomewhat longer than the distance from the free end of asprii'ig to the opposite end of lthe `tongue of the corresponding springsupport, ther y per mitting the lens-ring lo be attached to the lampbody when the perforation-s 25 are in apprrniima'teV alinenflent withthe said tongues and springs. The yshelf 28 is provided-adjacenttotlreend of each-of its perforationg 25 With forwardly dir'eted Ahumpformati-ons 26- orer'wh'ioh the'bight of the correspond-ing spring isadapted to ride when 'the lens front is rotated aft-er ithas beenyslipped ien-to its said alining position. In' doing this, the free endof ithespring is for-yvarclly, the thickness-of the packifng -6 beingsnclrthat the latter through its engagement `with the Llensof the lampand through the engagementofthe latterwith therigid inner flange 2l ofthe lens ring ywill hold `the lens ring so far forward as to pro`pressed latchingarrangement holds the lens front yieldingly andfloatingly attached as shown in Fig. t, allowing the parts to adjustthemselres to the thickness and coinpressibility of the packing ring 6and enabling this packing to afford a tightly sealing closure for thereflector regardless of variations in the thickness of the lens.

IVhen the lens-ring or lamp front is in its normal closure position of Fig. 3, the latching springs cooperate with the annular shelf ..3 on thelens-ring to urge the latter rearwardlv, thereby causing the rear "ardthrust onthe lens as transmitted to the packing ring to press the flange3 of the reflector firmly against the flange 2 on the lamp body.Likewise, when the lens-front is detached, the same springs 13 engagethe reflector' directly, as shown in Fig. 9, so as to hold its flange 3similarly pressed tightly agains? the flange 2 of the lamp body.Consequently, the reflector is always held in exactly the same positionwith respect to the lamp bulb 29 regardless of whether or not the lensfront is attached to the lamp body, so that the focusing' adjustment canreadily ne made before the lens-front is attached withoi'f having theadiustment disturbed by the sub sequent attaching of the lens-front.

To gain access to the interior of the lamp, the user merely needs torotate the lens rings sufficient-ly toward the tail ends of the springs,or towards the left in Fig. 4, to have the free ends of the springsclear the adjacent ends of the perforations 25, after which the lensfront can readily be slid ott the lamp body.

If the reflector' is to be detached, each spring can be pried out ofengagement with the corresponding hook 10 on its support by inserting ascrew driver between the rear end of this hook formation and the spring,so as to snap the spring out of this hook. Or, each spring may be simplysprung radially outward of the lamp body after the manner shown indotted lines in Fig. 7, so ass-to clear the'outer edge of the reflector`without requiring a detaching of the springs. In practice, I have foundthat a relatively light gage of wire sufiices for such springs, therebymaking it easy for both the lamp assembler and. the users to distort thesprings out of their operative positions in this manner, and alsopermitting the total width of the springs and spring supports radiallyof the lamp to be so small as to reduce the diameter of the lens-ringover that required with older types of lamps of the same general class.

However', while I have illustrated and described the lamp constructionof my invention in an embodiment including desirable shapes,constructions and arrangements of various parts, I do not wish to belimited as ,to these. Obvons1y,many changes might be made as to suchfeatures without departingeither from the spirit of my invention or fromthe appended claims.

I claim as my invention:

l. In a lamp, a reflector having a laterally directed flange at itsmouth, a :forwardly open body housing and supporting the reflector, aspring support secured to the body and having a portion thereof disposedforwardly of the said flange; a wire spring detachably carried by thesaid portion of the spring support and having a part adapted to engagethe flange of the reflector, the spring being' also adapted to have itsflangeengaging parts swung radially outward of the reflector by acorresponding flexing of the spring, so as to clear the flange andpermit the removal of the reflector; the spring support and the springhaving interengaging portions preventing a bodily movement of the springradially outward of the lamp; and a lens-carrying ring having a portionadapted to be slid between the reflector flange and the said engagingportion of the spring upon rotation of the lens-carrying ring withrespect to the body, so as to cause the spring to lock the ring to thebody.

A lamp construction as per claim l, in which the spring has an endportion extending through the spring support and in which the supporthas a part engaging another portion of the spring to prevent thewithdrawal of the said end portion from the support.

S. A. lamp construction as per claim l, in which the spring support hasa perforation therein and a hook formed thereon and spaced from theperforation and open towards the reflector' flange; and in which thespring has a portion extending through the said perforation and anotherportion extending through the hook, whereby the said perforation andhoolr cooperate in retaining the spring in operative position.

el. A lamp construction as per claim 1, in which the spring support hasa perforation therein and a hook formed thereon and spaced from theperforation and open towards the reflector flange; and in which thespring has a portion extending through the said perforation and anotherportion extending through the hook, whereby the said perforation andhook cooperate in retaining the spring in operative position; theportion of the spring between the hook and the part of the spring whichengages the reflector flange being of such a length as to permit thisportion to be flexed radially outward of the reflector to dispose theflange-engaging part of the spring beyond the outer edge of thereflector.

5. A lamp construction as per claim l, in which the reflector and thebody having interengaging portions preventing relative rotation thereofand arranged to permit the attaching and detaching .of tho reflector bylill) which the reflector flange has a recessy therein opposite 'thespring support to permit the reflector to be attached or detached bymovelment longitudinally of the body when the spring'is out of its saidfiange-engaging disposition.

6. In a lamp, a forwardly open body provided near its mouth with aforwardly facing shoulder, a reflector having at its mouth a flangeengaging the forward face of the'sai'd shoulder, a rigid spring supportsecured to the casing behind the said shoulder and extending through theshoulder and having a portion disposed forwardly of the reflector flangeand extending clroumferentially of that flange, the said portion havinga pair of spr1ng-engageable formations spaced circumferentially of thesaid ange, and a spring having two spaced parts respectively engaged bythe said formations and having another part engaging a part of thereector flange at a distance from the said portion of the springsupport.

Signed at Detroit, Michigan, March 20th,`

1925. c y c CHARLES E. GODLEY.

